SHENANIGANS

[favors_thebold]

Liminal Space holds many, many more secrets than the Travelers have ever managed to wrest from it. Of course, given that it took a few cycles of the game for them to even begin to perceive Liminal Space as a, well, space, that's not necessarily a surprise, but even now there's much they don't know.

On the other hand, when 'now' is appears to be a tad more malleable than usual.

In any case: the Travelers aren't the only ones who use Liminal Space to communicate with each other, and a message goes out on a channel they haven't yet found on any timeline, just as soon as 'Felicia Wheeler' has a moment to send it.

All right, who flooded the board? Also, how? I'm the one in charge of the Automat, so I'd *quite* like to know how all these Travelers got past me.

Depending on who's listening, this may be a bit of a shock.

Comments

[swinglow]

Fortuna!

That's Cairbre's mental voice all right, the familiar motor thrumming underlying it. But that sense of desperate joy? That's a little odd.

Brought them.

[favors_thebold]

It is a little odd, to be sure.

Why? We're still in the testing phase. And this is the kind of group she'd expect from...

...From much, much later in the game.

Oh. Oh dear.

[swinglow]

Needed to talk to you. Too many things not in contingencies.

[favors_thebold]

Cairbre doesn't need to say any more than that. There's always a chance her luck will run out, and if they can't ask her without going to this kind of trouble, then it obviously did. When isn't important; it'll come when it comes, or she'll find some way around it and surprise them all yet.

(Stranger things have happened. Coming out on top with Hakan's ridiculous rules was one of them.)

How annoyed are the others, that they agreed to bending the cycle around this much?

[swinglow]

Very. Especially Hakan. At Hermit, Death too. Tie.

[favors_thebold]

Hey, if they tied on a competition round, that's a loophole I *have* plans for and Hakan can go soak his head. If anyone thinks Fortuna doesn't fully plan to exploit any loophole she gets a chance to herself, they don't know her very well at all.

Or they can't comprehend her idiom, whichever.

I can't imagine Ix or Mort are all that pleased with the means, but you've arrived at your end. What do you need to know?

[swinglow]

Will you come back? Can you come back?

There is a pause.

What I want to know. Not what all want. Travelers doing impossible things. Came here while possessing on Jaunts. Both mind and moving. Went to memorial space. One tried to subborn automat. Caught by Justice. Applied thematics to their liminal level. Pendu observed. Other things. Can move between liminal levels. Keep finding conversation spaces. Another brief pause. Conversation spaces are permanent meeting spaces. Had to adopt them. Stole procedure from Travelers.

Its mental voice suddenly sounds... sad?

Killed Star. Not on purposed. Worried they will figure out how. Kill others. Emperor especially worried.

[favors_thebold]

If I can, I will. Whether I can may depend on how this particular venture goes. And boy, will that wrench the cycle around a fair amount - but she can cope with that. If nothing else it'll start a new one.

She has to pause for a moment, first to appreciate that Cairbre told her this much in the first place, and second to really relish just how much the Travelers have surprised everyone. I had a feeling they were stubborn enough to get on our level, if they had a chance to. Sounds like they're taking every opening they can find.

And now, the more serious stuff.

I take it the Automat's fine, or you would have said. I don't know what could be done to stop them exploiting archetypal subversion, and I don't want to slap restrictions on them without really thinking it through. They'd just see through it and work around it anyway, and then we'd all be in trouble. In the meantime, they're not considering how hard it is for twenty of us to reach a consensus, and there's, what, five times that many in your group?

Whatever took out poor Star must have been especially wearing, if they agreed to abandon her.

[swinglow]

Taken out during Phase One. There's another pause. Hierophant gone also. Hermit attempted to abandon game. Lovers, Devil, imprisoned so could not go. Self-preservation, they said. Did not want to lose boundaries between them. Wanted to keep individuality. Deadly failure of group cohesion.

Think Emperor, Empress want to bring back Star if possible.

[favors_thebold]

I'm the test case, then. It's not a question. The others can fill a lot of gaps left by the ones who are missing, but they can't make their own luck.

(Weird, that.)

If it's more rules for the Travelers to follow that the others want, they're going to have to deal with what they've got. But there *might* be enough information to come up with better contingencies, if they've gotten up to that many shenanigans.

[swinglow]

Yes. Is why even Emperor agreed to come. Also to ask what fuck.

[favors_thebold]

Well, he can ask, but I'm not sure he'll like the answer.

And then all the amusement fades from her tone at once. What happened to make them give up on Hope so *quickly*?

[swinglow]

Cairbre is silent for a relatively long instant.

During match called Darkest Crystal. Judgement, Justice's. Travelers stockpiled water, food rations. Decamped to Liminal Space. Would not leave. Match unfinished. Both wanted consequences next match. Asked Death, Devil to set conditions of consequences. Next in schedule. Death chose first: events repeating until set right. Devil chose second: blood and death.

Match called Moebius Loop. Was awful to watch. All thought so. Felt sickened. Many were also. Couldn't risk stopping it. Traveler memories... affected. Mostly don't remember before Moebius Loop.

Destroyed terrible place via match. Was not worth it.

There's a briefer pause.

Know Justice, Death both regret deeply. Don't know about Devil. Think it broke Judgement. Not right anymore. You'll see.

[favors_thebold]

...There must have been another way to make that point.

She's pretty impressed with the Travelers' initiative that led into that sorry mess, really. It's nothing she could have predicted in order to set a contingency for, and they saw the loophole and exploited it.

Some kind of explanation that what we do in this game is important was due after that, but *not that one.* Not with everything it cost.

[swinglow]

Know that. Think was greatest mistake.

[favors_thebold]

I don't blame you. She might have to have Words with some of the others, though.

So it's contingencies I probably still can't place that they want, is it?

[swinglow]

Probably. Want Travelers restricted. Chaotic.

[favors_thebold]

...Excuse Fortuna while she has a good laugh.

[swinglow]

Exactly. But got them to sign on.

[favors_thebold]

Well, that's something, I guess. If they want a chance to set the rules, they're going to have to do better than that.

[swinglow]

They want rules change. Not I. Want you. Missed you.

Also. Are people. Told you.

[favors_thebold]

Yes, yes, I gave them the chance to prove it and they more than rose to the challenge. But she wouldn't have done that much if she weren't partway to believing it anyway.

If this gambit pays off, you'll be happy, at least. Some of our siblings probably won't, but they'll just have to cope. Who's been knocked out so far, anyway?

Might as well know who stands to benefit from potential re-entry.

[swinglow]

Lovers was. No longer. Hanged Man. Tower. Moon. Devil. Fool. Priestess. Empress.

[favors_thebold]

Huh. Not very big on secrets, this lot?

[swinglow]

Or authority. Emperor only won against Hanged Man. Your kind of mortals.

[favors_thebold]

Oh, this should be *fun*.

[swinglow]

Thought would say that.

[favors_thebold]

So if you stole static spaces from the Travelers, has physicality gotten easier too, or are they stuck with a booming voice in the ether when they visit us?

[swinglow]

Show you.

And then, suddenly, there's a horseheaded automaton with long, many jointed fingers and hooved feet spinning in circles in 'front' of her.

[favors_thebold]

Oh, *very* nice. Very you. Help me practice, if we get some down time?

She's used to being a little ahead of the curve in this department (this time out, anyway, thanks to the World), but that's still desperately behind where she hopes to be headed.

[swinglow]

Will, Cairbre replies and the thrumming engine sound of its voice is quieter but oddly more effective coming from a single point.

It keeps spinning around.

Fool learned first. For choosing round. Form mostly hollow. Then Sun, Moon, Lovers, Magician. All can now. Some degree.

[favors_thebold]

Well, of course Cairbre's going to be in constant motion. If it's not, something is very, very wrong.

And some of us bother more often than others, I'm sure.

[swinglow]

Yes. Moon has second form. Do as well. Can transform. Less me. This better.

[favors_thebold]

This suits you. She probably could come up with more than one form herself, but... it doesn't seem worth the trouble. Besides, holding one at all for more than a few minutes at a time is slightly more important.

[swinglow]

Yes!

It's an exuberant sound. Cairbre is so very proud of its form.